BJP's dangerous liaison in J&K

As per the "sources" of various news channels, the Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, Dr Mohan Bhagwat, has reportedly expressed his displeasure at the proposed concessions to be made by the BJP to join a likely coalition in Jammu and Kashmir led by the PDP. This is unusual, to put it mildly.

The PDP is known to have driven a hard bargain with the BJP on the terms of sharing power. Concessions on sensitive issues like AFSPA that impinge on the national security and also the morale of the armed forces, are rumoured to be part of the deal. That the Centre should start talks with the Hurriyat separatists too has been insisted upon, and reportedly conceded. But what takes the cake is the insistence on recommencing stalled talks with Pakistan. Never mind if this amounts to interfering in the conduct of the nation's foreign policy which is, unexceptionally, the Centre's domain. The Centre seem to have found a way to avoid the embarrassment on this count too by initiating the Pakistan dialogue even before the formal announcement of the coalition, so as not to let it be seen as a part of a domestic political quid pro quo. There are other sticking points too, such as the lakhs of Hindu PoK-refugees languishing as "non-subjects" of Jammu and Kashmir for more than six decades.

And that is not all. With this deal, the BJP may have given itself a convenient excuse to keep the repeal of Article 370 in abeyance. To be fair to the BJP, their prevarication on this began months before the Assembly polls. But the PDP, reportedly, wants to rub it in by seeking an assurance on it in writing. The BJP's demand for the CM's post to be shared between the PDP and the BJP by rotation, too, in all likelihood, stands rejected by the PDP. Yet, the BJP looks eager for the alliance.

For the prime minister and the other BJP leaders, particularly the one who is a senior minister in the government and is known to call all the shots on matters pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir, to disregard the reported reservations of the Sarsanghchalak, may not be an easy decision to take. But, if they do go ahead with their plans for Jammu and Kashmir, with the reported compromises, it is likely to cause some eminently avoidable repercussions. Tongues will wag. The easiest to foresee is an uneasy speculation dominating the discourse within the Parivar, which could, potentially, undermine the ideological clarity and cohesion among its cadres. For a cadre-based Parivar which is nothing if not every bit ideological, such a scenario will have consequences.

The first NDA government too went through a few ideological fractures with the Parivar. Besides a few unseemly public showdowns, it also led to some of the senior-most leaders of the Sangh organisations snapping all communication links with those who led the BJP in the government. Such were the ruptures caused by their compromises that they remain to be mended till date. Additionally, the very icon of BJP's spectacular rise through the '90s stands isolated and rendered irrelevant after he, almost irretrievably, alienated the RSS.

There is another kind of spin sought to be put on the issue. That, through such inspired leaks, the RSS is attempting to distance itself from the fall-out of such a deal that is all but done. That the disapproving cadres would take solace in the fact that the RSS did not approve of such a deal though it could not prevent it happening. This is a far-fetched one, even by Digvijaya Singh's standards. Those who are inclined to thus speculate ought to know that an average Swayamsevak is far too sharp for that. He may ignore or forgive certain tactical ambiguities for the sake of perceived electoral advantages that may or may not accrue. But he will not countenance sacrificing national interest at the altar of a power-quest of a few. And the apex of the RSS would find it difficult to explain away such a "give" that no "take" can justify. Distancing itself from the "deal" is plain impossible. After all, it is Ram Madhav who conducted the negotiations with Haseeb Drabu of the PDP. Ram Madhav is an RSS Pracharak and was inducted into the BJP.

The challenge in Jammu and Kashmir is fast emerging as a litmus-test of the BJP's ability to draw a line, in its pursuit of power at the expense of what it stands for, what it mobilises its cadre for and what it gets all the votes for, across India. And, before the BJP signs on the dotted line, all that the RSS needs to worry is whether, after such a compromise, will they be able to look the very Jammu voter in the eye, in whose name the BJP seeks to share power with the PDP on the reported terms. Or else, this government will be considered, well and truly, to be run by the unabashed practitioners of whatever goes in the name of statecraft.